Too bad my Grandparents generation is almost all gone, there have been wonderful stories from many of them. A lot of people don't know that there was a massive train wreck right in downtown nearly 50 years ago. My Grandpa had a ton of pictures since he was Adjutant General at the time and they needed tanks to remove the wreckage; all his pictures were lost in the fire that killed him and my Grandma.

There's also a Native American burial ground somewhere in the vicinity of Priest Point Park. One of my Uncle's had found a skull and brought it home when he was a kid. The sheriff at the time asked that they not tell anyone else where they were digging about so that people wouldn't desecrate the area.

When you hear people of a Conservative persuasion complain about Evergreen it's good to remember that Republican Gov. Dan Evans was instrumental in getting the college started.

... Olympia, not as what it is, but what we want it to become.

Trying to capture a current moment in time will always be instantly outdated and will in the end only make us long for the past that's long gone.

Olympia is, like any other place all about the people.

And just like people change, move to and from and evolve this City will. There are certainly some constant fixtures in this city, but I refuse to let my environment define me, but fight hard to turn my dreams into reality.

"All men dream, but not equally, those that dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that is was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act upon their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible."

mathias eichler

einmaleins 

http://www.1x1olympia.com 

I believe that there is an Olympia "old guard" that is resistant to the quick growth that Oly has experienced, and therefore chooses to push "city problems" (like visible poverty) out, instead of coming to grips with the fact that these problems were not brought here (by TESC or by anybody) but grew here as growth was not handled effectively by our leaders. The other Olympia are people that have settled here over the last few decades, some from bigger cities, others to study at TESC, others like our friends the Taellious and Eichman families who settled here just because they heard it was a great place to live and wanted to be a part of our dynamic community.

There is an ideological battle of sorts going on right now between these groups. The former wants to hold on to a simpler Olympia of the past, unfortunately this is impossible given the growth we're experiencing. The latter want the opportunity to be a part of the direction our city takes, and feels left out of that. I'm not blaming anybody for anything here, both sides have slipped up, politically for instance, the "old guard" failed to listen to the people who actually live and work downtown before passing the Pedestrian Interference Ordinance in the Winter of '06; and the "young" progressives have misspent a lot of political capital over the last few years (see: Nuclear Free Zone Ordinance and the fight against visiting warships, both fights were won, so to speak, by the progressive community, but at what cost overall given last November's city council elections where any slight sign of progressivism doomed your campaign from jumpstreet?).

I agree with Mathias, who want to be, or, how we want to be defined is more important for us to figure out as a community than who we are. Our future depends on it.

That is my hope. Having transplanted my family from Seattle back in July of '07, I am eager to learn more about my new home town. Moving here has enabled us to upgrade our home and enabled me to start my own business. The down side has been that while I have the convenience of being able to work from home, I have lacked the opportunities to take the town and the people of Olympia into my heart.

Ironically, my main motive for moving out of Seattle was to get away from the commuter community. The people I worked with side by side commuted downtown from all over King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. Even the church I attended was a commuter community. It's hard to develop significant friendships in such an environment. Alas, it's just as hard while working from home. The long and short of it is that there are few places where strong and meaningful community happens incidentally.

My challenge is finding ways to insert myself into my new-found community. I'm not the kind of person who can make that happen overnight. I'm not the charismatic people-person everyone wants to get to know. I often let my cynicism get the best of me. But with time, I plan to find ways to become more involved with the greater community. I have chosen to make Olympia my home. Whatever I have to contribute to the community will help in the ongoing process of defining Olympia.

Marcus DeHart
^Caret